Analyzing differences in thermal comfort between young and elderly adults in a hot-humid and low-windy climate

Analyzing differences in thermal comfort between young and elderly adults in a hot-humid and low-windy climate | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Analyzing differences in thermal comfort between young and elderly adults in a hot-humid and low-windy climate Li Wang, Hao Yang, Yuyang Wang, Wei Ye, Jiang He This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6472349/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in International Journal of Biometeorology → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract It has been proven that the thermal sensation and comfort differ among people living in different climate zones. However, related analyses are often limited to typical climate zones, lacking studies focused on populations in regions like Southern China (Guangxi) with hot-humid and low-windy climates. To address this research gap, this study selected dozens of local elderly and young adults as subjects, conducting questionnaire surveys and on-site measurements in a climate room. The investigation results indicate a significant difference in the thermal comfort between the elderly and young in the study region (Southeast Guangxi). The elderly exhibit more heat-tolerant characteristics in both physiological responses (skin temperature, heart rate) and psychological responses (mean thermal sensation vote, thermoneutral temperature, etc.), and have a wider comfort temperature range. The thermoneutral temperature of older people is 27.0°C, while that of young people is 26.6°C. It was also found that the thermal comfort model (PMV-PPD) is inapplicable to the elderly in this region. The findings obtained in this study can provide a reference for analyzing thermal comfort differences between the elderly and young in hot-humid and low-windy regions. It also offers important insights for developing thermal comfort models for the elderly and designing age-friendly air-conditioning systems. Hot-humid and low-windy climate Elderly population Thermal sensation Thermal adaptation Questionnaire investigation Climate chamber experiment Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 13 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in International Journal of Biometeorology → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 20 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 20 May, 2025 Editorial decision: Major Revisions Needed 29 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6472349","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":467405766,"identity":"93d3a025-f633-4f1e-b5c7-e7f901acd6fe","order_by":0,"name":"Li Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":467405767,"identity":"5a2a2405-e78a-4ff0-8be2-099a23e2cbd5","order_by":1,"name":"Hao Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hao","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":467405768,"identity":"448d0698-6a71-4a6a-afde-b91174d9b4b6","order_by":2,"name":"Yuyang Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuyang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":467405769,"identity":"3de3caec-da74-4061-b500-633945602cc5","order_by":3,"name":"Wei Ye","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wei","middleName":"","lastName":"Ye","suffix":""},{"id":467405770,"identity":"a8adb5b4-9eb7-457e-94b9-beec42a4a0c1","order_by":4,"name":"Jiang He","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCR6GxAcJBhJyJGlJNvhQYGNMkhY2yRkf0hIbiNYi2XPggTSPweH0vuMJjB8+5hChRZq3IcEYqCV35pkHzJIztxGhRY6fISEZpGXDjQQ2Zl5itRwGOcyAaC1AhyU2zjBISyBeC9D7yQwfDGwMZ5552EycXyTO5KT/SPgjIc93PPngh4/EaGFg4EmA0AeIjxr2A1AtCcTqGAWjYBSMgpEGAKDfOXaYWKdVAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1267-5518","institution":"Guangxi University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiang","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-17 13:52:56","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6472349/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6472349/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-026-03178-5","type":"published","date":"2026-04-13T15:57:30+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107350900,"identity":"4871b6a3-74df-43b4-b8d8-6242db916568","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-20 16:06:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1148222,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript20250520.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6472349/v1_covered_a07f6a77-5dd1-470e-9f09-7d4c268ca7ed.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Analyzing differences in thermal comfort between young and elderly adults in a hot-humid and low-windy climate","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"international-journal-of-biometeorology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ijbm","sideBox":"Learn more about [International Journal of Biometeorology](http://link.springer.com/journal/484)","snPcode":"484","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/ijbm/default2.aspx","title":"International Journal of Biometeorology","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Hot-humid and low-windy climate, Elderly population, Thermal sensation, Thermal adaptation, Questionnaire investigation, Climate chamber experiment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6472349/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6472349/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIt has been proven that the thermal sensation and comfort differ among people living in different climate zones. However, related analyses are often limited to typical climate zones, lacking studies focused on populations in regions like Southern China (Guangxi) with hot-humid and low-windy climates. To address this research gap, this study selected dozens of local elderly and young adults as subjects, conducting questionnaire surveys and on-site measurements in a climate room. The investigation results indicate a significant difference in the thermal comfort between the elderly and young in the study region (Southeast Guangxi). The elderly exhibit more heat-tolerant characteristics in both physiological responses (skin temperature, heart rate) and psychological responses (mean thermal sensation vote, thermoneutral temperature, etc.), and have a wider comfort temperature range. The thermoneutral temperature of older people is 27.0\u0026deg;C, while that of young people is 26.6\u0026deg;C. It was also found that the thermal comfort model (PMV-PPD) is inapplicable to the elderly in this region. 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